💩 Funnels vs. 🌻 Fellowship in Freemium Communities...!

BOY OH BOY I've been thinking a lot about the conversation Martin started yesterday after our chat!

BASICALLY, WE HAVE TWO OPTIONS:

1️⃣ FUNNEL-First Community = the community exists as a funnel, plain and simple

2️⃣ COMMUNITY-First Community = community is there for us to connect, even if it is also part of a business ecosystem which has paid offers.

STAY WITH ME HERE on the incoming analogy...

This got me thinking about how my daughter is 14, and now we have to teach her to be wary of boys. For some reason, when teenage boys' hormones get crazy, they're not always thinking of the girl and her brains and jokes and HER AS A PERSON.

"NOTCH ON THE BELT" feels

honestly? GROSS
like there is the conquistador and then the conquest
as though one person is essentially there just to be used and tossed

FUNNEL-FIRST COMMUNITIES =

feel much the same
like members are conquests
members are used like we're a cash machine to pull money out of

And yeah, it's truly just like being another notch on the belt so the hustle bros* can brag about the $$$ from the launch.

*QUICK NOTE about "hustle bros" --> I know this a gender-heavy marketing conversation. MEANWHILE... IN THIS ROOM, there are actual *GENTLEMEN*, so I want to take a moment to acknowledge that women can also show up as "hustle bros" and that men are often insanely thoughtful and gentlemanly in terms of the way they show up in life and business. This is not about man vs. woman. This is about the FEELING of being used or a conquest vs. the FEELING of being honored as a human.

LET'S BRING THIS BABY HOME:

In a community-first community where there are offers in place, there's no feeling of "notches on the belt" (which is obviously gross as a side note, but I make this analogy because I think we need to know that certain ways of showing up in relationships of ANY KIND feel genuinely... gross!).

➡️➡️➡️ YOUR THOUGHTS ON THIS ONE?!

I realize that if you think in "funnels" and work in marketing, this might feel like someone is pointing at you. Funnels don't have to FEEL like funnels. But when they *DO* and are not done *WELL* and thoughtfully, that's when it feels like this!

I'm SUPER CURIOUS ➡️ Have there been any communities where you felt like you were there simply as a conquest? Or are you mainly in communities that feel downright wholesome? If you have a Skool community, have you thought about the way YOUR members feel in your space?

AND... ➡️ Is this related to money mindset in a way? (I find this fascinating because I love making money AND love spending money! I just want it to feel SACRED, not gross!)

OHHHH... ➡️ Thinking more about this! Some communities are so transactional in nature that this whole conversation is moot! Hilariously! 🫠 Like --> there is an entry fee to learn a skill! It's not really about those communities so much as FREEMIUM communities! (bringing this into the title RIGHT NOW to make that part clear...)

🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻

Love Note: This was ORIGINALLY POSTED HERE in Connect & Collab on February 26 so if you're in that lovely group and feel the sensation of déjà vu, no worries, you are NOT going crazy! You have seen this before! 😅

🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻

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